Gaming has always been popular, but this has increased exponentially over the last few years. Whereas gaming was once seen as 'geeky' and 'uncool,' nowadays, geeky IS cool. You can blame the huge rise of comics and 'cosplay' conventions such as Comic Con for contributing to this massive change in perception.

There is a lot of hype about the future potential of crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending. The US has shown the huge potential with platforms such as Lending Club and Prosper lending billions of dollars a year.

Professionals in the late 30s, 40s and 50s are realising that with increasing retirement ages they will probably need to carry on working for another 20+ years. If that is the case they want to do something that is much more fulfilling and rewarding.

Peer-to-peer lending is one of the most exciting developments of recent modern finance. It is also the chance for finance to become democratised, as investors themselves decide who to lend to, and what a borrower is charged.

The 18th century was a Golden Age for newspapers. The Georgian press delighted in cataloguing the vices of the age, and playwrights, politicians, actors, and courtesans were all afforded celebrity status by magazines and popular prints of the period. The parallels with today's media are startlingly obvious.

I've never met Chuck. I live in London, he lives somewhere in America. I'm a bit sketchy on the precise details of exactly where he claims to live, but that's okay and, regardless of this shocking lack of personal information, I recently decided I'd enjoy the opportunity to give Chuck some of my money.

Whatever your view on the Olympics, there's no doubt that east London is being transformed. But one landmark you won't find on any investment plans - or even Google Maps for that matter - is Cody Dock, a former gasworks on the River Lea, lying derelict between Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park.

Like an ethical Kickstarter, Peoplefund.it allows you to support projects that aim to do something good for the world. But unlike the other crowd funding sites out there, Peoplefund.it lets users donate skills and time as well as money.